Fevered Dreams: Zutara Week 2010
by Maq
Summary: A vignette about Zuko and Katara inspired by this year's prompts.


_**Day One: Family**_

_**They had been strolling along the beach hand-in-hand when she said it.**_

"_**I want to take a holiday in the Foggy Swamp," Katara announced. Zuko laughed and pulled Katara in for a kiss. She turned her head at the last moment and wriggled away from him. "What's so funny?" she demanded, hands on hips.**_

"_**You," he chuckled, nonplussed by her glare. Zuko put a hand on her shoulder and attempted to bring their bodies together once more. She stood staunchly in place, a frown brewing on the lips Zuko so loved to kiss. He let his hand fall to his side and sighed heavily. "What did I do wrong this time?"**_

"_**You're laughing at me," she stated. "Isn't that enough?"**_

"_**I'm laughing with**_** you," he tried to clarify.**

"**Zuko, the problem with that theory is that I'm not laughing." Then came the inevitable stare-down. Katara had a 56 percent chance of success at this game. Her cerulean eyes pierced him with all the frigidity of an iceburg. His eyes narrowed and he stared back. She blinked first, but managed to chastise him before he noticed. "You know I don't like it when you poke fun at me."**

"**I didn't realize you were serious," Zuko said. "I mean, who vacations in the **_**Foggy Swamp**_**? I'm told it's miserable. You even hated being there."**

"**It wasn't particularly enjoyable, no," she acquiesced. Taking Zuko's hand back, she urged him silently to continue their stroll. "But there's someone I want you to meet."**

"**I thought I met all of your swamp friends at our engagement party," he said. His unspoken question lingered heavily in the air. **_**Who have you been hiding**_**?**

"**Strange things happen there, Zuko. It's not so much a person that I want you to meet as an idea." She turned to him and softly stroked his face in the light of the gibbous moon. "Please don't fight me on this," she whispered.**

"**If it means that much to you, then of course I'll go," He answered just as quietly. His thumb caressed her lower lip just before he leaned in for a tender kiss. **

**Their feet padded on the moss-covered ground quietly. Dodging branches and vines was difficult, but Katara knew better than to cut them. She held tightly to Zuko's hand. The last thing she wanted was to be cut off from him in this eerie place. **

"**We need either a water bender or the tree at the center of the swamp," she explained, "so that we don't get lost."**

"**I remember you saying that everything here is connected," Zuko said curiously. "Didn't Aang just tough the ground and find Appa? Maybe you can do something similar. You've been to the tree before and you're… kin… to these benders. I don't see why it wouldn't work."**

**Katara bit her lip in uncertainty. "I don't know… Sokka may have been right when he called that 'Avatar Stuff'."**

"**And how often is Sokka right?" Zuko countered with a smile. "Besides, I have faith in you. I know you can do it." He kissed the palm of her hand before lowering it to the ground. "Just try."**

**Katara breathed in heavily. "Everything is connected," she recited. In her mind she saw pathways upon pathways weaving in, over, under, and around the trees. She saw Hue and Slim the gator sitting near a dwindling fire not far from her present location. She knew the path they had to take.**

**Zuko's frantic voice interrupted her concentration. "Did you see that?" he asked.**

"**See what?"**

"**That girl," he stated, as if it should have been obvious. "She was running. Who would leave a child alone in a place like this?"**

**A broad grin spread over Katara's face. "I didn't see her, but I know why you did." Zuko looked frustrated and confused. "The swamp reveals truths about us, shows us people we love. That's why I wanted to come here."**

"**For me to hallucinate?" Zuko scoffed.**

"**No," she replied serenely. "To see if you would see who I saw."**

"**I thought you saw your mother."**

"**I did," she answered sadly. "I thought that maybe, since she'll soon be your mother-in-law, you'd see her as well."**

"**I would love to see your mother," Zuko said solemnly, "but I have my own beautiful Water Tribe woman. Your father says you resemble Kya, so in a way I do see her."**

"**I suppose," she allowed reluctantly. "Still, it would have been nice."**

"**Yes, it would. That doesn't explain my hallucination- er, vision, though. I saw a child I didn't recognize."**

"**Aang had the same problem," Katara explained. "He saw Toph, and we hadn't met her yet."**

"**So it's a child that I'll meet in the future?"**

"**Don't be such a skeptic," Katara joked. "I **_**know**_** you'll see her again. What did she look like?"**

"**She looked like Azula," Zuko said grimly. "Only her eyes were different." He pulled his lover close to him and kissed her cheek with a sudden realization. "She had eyes the color of the ocean."**

"**Do you think she's… our…?"**

"**It's possible. I'd love to have a family with you: daughters and sons, and- dare I say it? -nieces and nephews."**

**Katara laughed. "It sounds so strange, but I think we found our family in this swamp. I saw my mother and you saw what could be our daughter. Three generations of my family all in one place. This swamp is magical."**

"**Yeah," Zuko agreed as he embraced Katara. "It might just be." **

"**Suki, do something!" Sokka shouted.**

"**What **_**exactly **_**do you want me to do?" Suki asked.**

"**Make her feel better! Women do that, don't they?"**

**Suki punched her boyfriend roughly on the arm. "I don't know how to bring down a fever. I don't have healing powers!"**

"**She just has to sweat it out," Zuko's quiet voice added. "Nothing else can be done. You guys might as well just go to bed."**

**Eyebrow arched, Suki tugged Sokka's arm and led him to their tent. "I think he likes her," she whispered. **

**Zuko rolled his eyes at the thought. Even though she had forgiven him, he didn't think she would ever return his feelings for her. Still, he couldn't help but smile when he heard her murmur his name in her sleep. **


End file.
